Enter the Imbroglio
by ShinyShiny9
Summary: One mission; two teenagers; three days of chaos and computer-generated music. Throw in some possible unplanned explosions. What more could a dysfunctional romance ask for?
1. Prelude to Imbroglio

_**Better odds await the faint of heart**_

 _ **I've got a new disaster to start!**_

 **And it's called Lloydille! AKA PhysicsShipping; still my very favorite Ninjago pairing next to Ronya. XD**

 **This story was requested by guest reviewer Angel Star Ninja—sorry, it may not be quiiiiiiite what you had in mind** **—but an EDM concert is like a really huge dance party, no? Sorta?**

 **Anyway, thanks for giving me the nudge to actually write something for this pairing, Angel! I had SO much fun I can't even tell you. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but it got out of hand and hit several chapters instead. XP**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 **Warnings: Crack shipping, general goofiness, some action/violence, messed-up romance, little flirting, no kissu. This is Lloyd we're dealin' with.**

 **Oh, and #GetYourFixOfSolidColeHere.**

* * *

"Move!" insisted Jay, attempting to overcome static friction. It turned out that the soles of Lloyd's feet were wonderful sources of static friction. He wasn't budging.

"Come on, we're almost done cleaning up here. Chamille's going to be heading home soon, and then you'll miss your chance!"

"What chance?" demanded Lloyd, leaning his full weight backwards to counterbalance Jay's full weight trying to shove him forwards. To his dismay, his feet started to slide slowly but steadily, no matter how much he dug in his heels.

"You have to talk to her! Settle everything out after the whole Thunderblades fiasco, you know? You _said_ you liked her."

"Never have I ever said that I liked her!"

"You said she had a nice laugh."

"So does the Overlord, depending on your preferences!" Lloyd yelped and fell backwards as Jay suddenly stopped pushing altogether.

"Kiddo." Jay regarded the prone Green Ninja sternly, arms folded. "I'm serious."

"Look," said Lloyd, sitting up. "Just because I noticed her does _not_ mean I like her. If you gave me a peanut for every girl Kai noticed, I'd be running an elephant farm by now." He brushed himself off and regarded Jay wearily. The lightning ninja still looked adamant.

"Well, if it'll get you off my case," sighed Lloyd, pushing himself to his feet. "But only for good sportsmanship!"

"Just get going." Jay made a shooing motion.

Lloyd headed over, nursing mixed feelings about the situation. On one hand, he did feel like he owed the Master of Form at least a _little_ bit of an apology—she'd been rough with him during the Thunderblades race, but he'd been rough with her too. And then he'd won everyone over to his side and gotten her tossed into the Factory, which from what he heard was not a fun place.

On the other hand, he still had the bruises from that high-speed brawl disguised as rollerskating, and at least _most_ of them had been entirely unnecessary. Not to mention a good few dents to his ego, and the knowledge that—if _she_ had been the one to win—she would have had no regrets at all.

Also, girls. He was not well-versed in them.

It was with poorly-disguised reluctance, therefore, that he sidled closer to the Master of Form and caught her eye. She gave him an unreadable look, tossed aside the scrap metal she'd been dragging, and brushed off her hands.

"Your friend's a dork," she said glumly, nodding towards Jay.

Wow. First sentence in the conversation and they were in perfect agreement. That was promising.

"So, what's the message?" She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, arms folded. Lloyd shrugged.

"Nothing specific. I, uh, I guess—"

"'Nothing specific'?" interrupted Chamille. "Wait. This isn't about the Tournament?"

"Oh, that." Lloyd rocked back on his heels, wondering whether he wanted to change the subject badly enough to venture an apology. "Uhh . . . are you still mad about that?"

"Are _you?_ "

". . . Kinda."

"Mutual, Minty."

For a while they both stood there with folded arms, surveying the ground.

"Are we done?" asked Chamille, tilting her head. Lloyd found himself studying her eyes, looking for something special, but found they were pretty unremarkable as eyes went. Wasn't sure what he'd been expecting.

"Is your hair really purple?" he blurted at last.

It was only much later that he learned you weren't supposed to ask girls about their natural color, but luckily Chamille seemed used to the question.

"Nuh-uh. I dyed it purple with powdered drink mix."

" . . . Why? . . . "

Chamille looked around uneasily to see if anyone was listening, then grabbed Lloyd's arm and yanked him within whispering distance.

"'Cos it's a _sign!_ Nobody else can know this, but I'm actually from the future and I've come back to save the past from a horrible catastrophe. I know it sounds crazy, but you've gotta believe me!"

"Really?" asked Lloyd, bewildered.

"I _wish_ ," sighed Chamille, letting go of his arm. "I'm a fifteen-year-old from North Ninjago whose parents think I've been at my grandma's all this time, and whose grandma thinks I've been at band camp, and all of them are going to kill me when they find out about this." She surveyed the Corridor of Elders gloomily. "Come to think, maybe I'll stay away from home a little longer."

So that was their first meeting. Chamille did stick around for a while, and she and Lloyd ocasionally ran into each other afterwards and spent a little time in each others' company—long enough for them to question each others' sanity, insult each others' music tastes, nearly come to fisticuffs twice, and develop an even more thorough distaste for each other.

Somehow it didn't dissuade either of them from enjoying it every time. They became good friends, after a rather violent fashion.

* * *

"This looks like the real deal," said Nya grimly, ending the communicator call and turning to the others. "There have been multiple threats received that a bomb will be planted at this year's Magic Imbroglio Carnival."

"Magic . . . _What?_ " Kai looked like he was undecided between complimenting Nya on her vocabulary and warning her to watch her language.

"The Magic Imbroglio Carnival. It's a three-day concert devoted entirely to electronic music. Draws in huge crowds of . . . well, rather crazy people." Nya chuckled, but sobered quickly. "But seriously. You all know how dangerous a bomb could be in such a huge crowd, or even the threat of a bomb. The concert authorities want all of us to head down there to make sure the bomb does not get planted."

"Can't we catch the perpetrators beforehand?" asked Cole, already socking a fist into his palm.

"We can definitely try," agreed Nya. "But if worst comes to worst, we're going to have to be ready to go down there, look for any suspicious behavior, and take down any threats. The authorities have arranged 'twin passes' for six people."

"Twin passes?"

"Basically tickets for two people each. The concert authorities were very specific about wanting us to work in pairs—they say the concert is much too loud and chaotic for a single person to stay on-track, and any more than two people working together would attract attention. So it's pair work only."

"So . . . we have to get dates?" It could not be said Jay sounded reluctant about this.

"Not necessarily _dates_ ," said Nya. "To quote the guy I spoke with, 'bring a date, bring a friend, bring your grandma for all I care; just make sure you have a partner.' And before you get too excited, this _is_ going to be work, you know!"

"I know, I know." Jay's enthusiasm did not seem at all dampened. Nya eyed the ceiling ironically, but smiled.

"Okay, so the Carnival is the day after tomorrow—"

" _What?!_ "

"Yeah, so you'd better partner up fast. The concert authorities will want to brief us too, so we'll have to meet them sometime today. Does anyone have any questions?"

"I have one." Zane raised his hand shyly.

"Yes?"

"What _is_ electronic music? . . . "

"It's . . . " Nya hesitated. "Well, you'll find out soon enough."


	2. No Sock Left Behind

**Woah. I don't know about you guys, but FFN is being really glitchy for me lately. I have a feeling that'll cut holes in this chapter's view number . . . ahhh well, updating anyway!**

 **If you're one of those people who so assiduously take down any YouTube video containing Prince songs—uhh—um** **—** **nothing to see here! Nope. ^_^''**

 **Angel Star Ninja: Yay! You're very welcome! Heh, if I wasn't dead now, I'd hug you back. XD**

 **Darkrainbow: Haha, the GetYourFixOfSolidCole is ABCSonicKirbyWarriors' invention. Call it my apology for torturing her with Lloydille. X3 Woohoo, so you're digging the pairing, huh?**

* * *

The next morning, Lloyd went down to the auditorium where the Magic Imbroglio Carnival was to be held. There were already tons of trippy-looking concert-goers camping outside the gates, waiting for them to open. Lloyd skirted the campground and headed for the chain-link fence surrounding the concert area. Inside, the stage was being prepared, water stands and Porta-potties were being set up, sound and light tests were being run . . . It all looked pretty epic.

Lloyd joined several other people in hanging off the fence, watching. He was probably the only person there also trying to scope out hiding places, vantage points, and danger zones. Sweeping his eyes over the vast green space in front of the stage, he tried to imagine it packed from end to end with glowsticks, phone cameras, jumping, flailing bodies, and probably a few hundred concealed vials of Venomari spit.

"Hey Lloyd."

Startled, he turned to the person next to him, a grizzled old man with a wild gray beard, a ragged gray overcoat, and hair that looked like the birds had gotten enthusiastic with nesting season.

"H—hey," stammered Lloyd, his eyes inadvertantly widening. He tried to process where he'd seen this guy before. The fellow regarded him with glittering dark eyes and a grin missing a few teeth.

"How've you been lately, sonny?"

"Great, thanks," Lloyd managed, thoroughly thrown by now. This guy was talking to him as if they knew each other, but he just couldn't remember ever meeting him . . . And he felt like he would've remembered that kind of meeting.

"Awwww, now why're you lookin' at me like that?" asked the friendly apparition, looking wounded. "Doncha remember yer old pal Eohns?"

"Mm—mmm." Lloyd made a sound halfway-but-not-quite affirmation, smiling awkwardly. Maybe he could fudge his way through a bit of conversation and excuse himself soon.

"How could you forget?" Eohns, evidently not fooled, looked betrayed. "Did it mean that little to ya? All those glory days, the sweat and blood, the price of our lives writ large on the walls in dusky fragments of bone?"

"Uhh—" Lloyd leaned away slightly, edging into the realm of "mildly terrified."

"Ah geez, that sounded better in my head," said his strange companion in an entirely different voice—and Lloyd was delivered from his mortification by a familiar giggle and glint of purple light.

* * *

A while later Lloyd returned to the _Bounty,_ feeling he'd gotten as good a look at the concert stage as he was going to get. He found Zane stationed in front of the ship's computer, a pair of headphones jammed precariously over his titanium hair as he gazed studiously at the screen. Lloyd reached over to tap him on the shoulder, wondering if he could make him jump, but Zane merely turned around without so much as batting an eyelid. Nindroids were hard to sneak up on.

"Whatcha doing?" asked Lloyd.

"I am researching electronic music in preparation for the Magic Imbroglio Carnival," said Zane, and Lloyd had to bite back a grin at how strange the name sounded in that grave, slightly-echoey voice.

"How're you liking it?"

"It is . . . oddly mesmerizing," said Zane. "I have found a multitude of genres and sub-genres, including dubstep, coolstep, chillstep, drum-and-bass, indie dance, electro dance, trap, glitch hop—"

"I get it, I get it." Lloyd laughed, holding up his hands. "Wow. Do they have _all_ those at the Magic Imbroglio Carnival? No wonder it lasts three days."

"Indeed. Do you like electronic music?" asked Zane.

"Not really," admitted Lloyd. He'd always been into rock himself. "But hey, we aren't going to the concert for the music anyway. At least one of us is going to be having fun, though!"

"At least _two_ of us; PIXAL is partial to glitch hop," said Zane, turning back to the screen. "She seems to be looking forward to this."

Lloyd chuckled and left Zane and his significant other-half-of-the-brain to their research.

He found the others in the bunkroom. Cole had a Prince song on the radio and was seemingly making up choreography to go with it—partially for the others' amusement, but only partially.

" _Don't hafta be rich, to be my girl! Y'don't hafta be cool, to rule my world! Ain't no particular sign, I'm more compatible with; I just want your extra time and your_ —" Cole pulled an imaginary hat down over his eyes and spun around to the guitar lick. "— _kiss!_ "

Lloyd stifled his laughter as Cole moonwalked into the nightstand.

"Cole's got a date?"

"Cole's got a heck of a date!" announced Cole himself, propping the now-somewhat-drunken-looking nightstand up against the wall. "I know we're technically going to be working, but this electric magic thingamabob is going to be totally worth it."

"If it doesn't get blown sky-high first," said a sour voice. Lloyd looked over to where Kai was sprawled on his bunk, frowning at the ceiling. The green ninja looked over to Jay, who nodded glumly.

"Skylor's not coming?" ventured Lloyd. Kai made no move to reply, but the slight narrowing of his eyes said enough.

"Wow." Lloyd tilted his head in sympathy. "You guys didn't have a fight already, did you?"

"Nah. Nothing personal, she's just not into electronic music," said Kai dismissively.

"Must be _reallllllllllly_ not into electronic music. Like, actively disliking it," remarked Jay. "That, or—stalling."

Kai gave a frustrated groan and rolled onto his stomach, tucking his pillow under his chin.

"So are you going with Nya?" asked Lloyd. He stood on his toes on the edge of Zane's bunk and hooked his elbows over the edge of Kai's.

"She's with Jay."

"Zane?"

"He's sticking with Sensei Wu."

"Uncle Wu is coming to the Magic Imbroglio Carnival?" Lloyd spaced out for a second, trying to imagine his long-bearded uncle raving amidst a crowd of EDM-intoxicated young adults in bad hair and fluorescent facepaint. Then he shook the thought away as fast as possible.

"Well you've got to find _someone,_ " he said, turning back to Kai. "Pair work only."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll think of something. Or stay here." Kai burrowed his chin deeper into the pillow, scowling listlessly through the headboard. Despite his efforts to act like he didn't care, he was clearly down about all this. Lloyd considered for only a moment.

"Hey," he began, nudging Kai's arm. "Look. I wouldn't offer this to just anyone, but it being you and all . . . "

Kai eyed him cautiously.

"Well . . . Just this once, you could go with my mom if you wanted."

Kai pulled his pillow out from under his head just long enough to club Lloyd to the floor with it.

"Geez squirt, don't mock the afflicted," said Cole reproachfully as Jay tried not to laugh.

"I was _serious!_ " protested Lloyd, rubbing his head and casting a glare back from whence he'd come. "It's not a date, it's bring-anyone. And my mom _happens_ to be good company."

"Hey, he may have a point," said Cole in Kai's general direction, helping Lloyd to his feet.

"No. Just no."

"Well hey, if you can't talk Skylor into it—"

"I did _not_ try to 'talk her into it'," growled Kai, rolling over and sitting up. "I asked her if she was planning to go, and when she said no, I wasn't about to ask her to change her mind."

" _Really?_ " Jay rolled his eyes. "And people tell me _I'm_ clueless! Just because she doesn't care about going to an EDM concert in and of itself doesn't mean she wouldn't want to go to an EDM concert with _you_."

"I'm not playing that card." Kai folded his arms.

"So you'd rather sit here and sulk than, oh, I don't know, possibly go out on a limb a little by asking for her company?"

"I have my pride," muttered Kai.

"Yeah, well." Cole hauled Kai unceremoniously down from the bunk and gave him a push towards the door. "Spread it on a cracker and swallow it."

Kai growled, but went. Cole glanced back at Lloyd.

"You know, you could have offered to partner up with him yourself, wise guy."

"Already taken," muttered Lloyd, and disappeared before any questions could be asked.

* * *

Kai was in a significantly better mood at dinnertime.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" grinned Cole.

"Whatever," said Kai good-naturedly. "I've got a partner."

"Well that's great, but now who's my mom going to go with?"

"Your mom was planning to go _anyway?_ "

"She likes to try new stuff." Lloyd shook extra hot pepper onto his pizza, shrugging.

"Well, at least she'll be able to enjoy it then, instead of having to worry about the mission. Speaking of!" Cole swallowed a mouthful of cheese and pepperoni. "Let's start planning for that."

"I found maps of the stage and audience area online," volunteered Jay, slapping some printouts onto the table. "We need to station at least two of the teams in the audience, and the others hopefully backstage."

"If they're going to plant a bomb," said Kai, indicating with a piece of pizza crust, "it would probably be somewhere within _this_ area. Any farther out and it's not going to have as much effect as they'd want."

It was only after many years as a ninja that you could have conversations like this and maintain an appetite at the same time.

"So around here, here, and maybe _here_ ," said Cole, tapping at various spots. "But we need to pick spots where we won't be seen; two teenagers just hanging around backstage is going to tip those guys off pretty fast."

"Okay, so how about this," said Lloyd. "Zane and Uncle Wu will be in the audience, since Zane would be pretty much a dead giveaway anywhere backstage—no offense, buddy. Jay and Nya, you're both cleared to go backstage already, so you can hide out here by the sound control both. Cole or Kai, one of you is gonna have to get your date cleared so you can go backstage with her too. I'll try to get Chamille cleared as well—" Jay's mouthful of orange juice wound up all over the table, and partially over an indignant Kai "—but if worst comes to worst, she can probably disguise herself as a stagehand or something and sneak back." He looked around and regarded a still-spluttering Jay oddly. "Did I say something?"

"I think it's more of what you _didn't_ say," said Cole, whacking Jay on the back. "You never mentioned you were taking Chamille! Where did _that_ come from?"

"She was hanging around outside the concert field, seeing if she could track down a ticket—and since she wanted to go anyway, I offered to bring her along," said Lloyd, wearing his best "why-is-this-even-a-surprise" face. "I had to find someone."

"But why _her?_ I thought you couldn't stand each other."

"We can't," said Lloyd.

The others exchanged dubious glances, then decided that trying to drag an answer out of Lloyd wouldn't be worth the effort.


	3. Summer Was Fun

**Dannnng, FFN's been a pain lately. The very servers are rebelling against the concept of Lloydille, it seems. XD**

 **Ahhh, glorious summer . . . There's still time for a concert, if only a fictional one. If you're into electronic music already, pop some on for ambience if you like! Or if you're curious about this electronic deal, go ahead and give the MonsterCat channel on YouTube a try. :)**

 **Guest: Thanks for the review! I can't promise hilarious, but I'll sure try! :)**

 **Angel Star Ninja: Aww, thanks! Say, I made pumpkin munchies; I'll trade you them for the cookies. X3 And remember that bit with Kai you asked for? It's in here!**

 **Darkrainbow: Hehe, got the joke, huh? The title-crafting business gets kinda weird sometimes. XD Thanks for the review! Good call, I'm seriously going to need a diet after this. :P Here, some pumpkin munchies for you too.**

* * *

The Magic Imbroglio Carnival started at about five in the afternoon the next day. Sixteen hours before that began the "red zone": the point at which Lloyd stopped accepting advice from _anyone._ Not just about dating matters, about everything—you never knew with these people.

At about noon, the ninja and Nya started getting ready for the concert. They were all heading over to meet their partners one by one to avoid raising any suspicion, so Kai was just starting to get ready while Lloyd was almost finished.

"Have fun with Skylor," said Lloyd, slipping a couple of signal flares into his pockets.

"Yeah, you have fun with Chamille too."

Lloyd made a face, pulling a sweater over his head.

"I don't plan on having any fun, thanks. She's creepy."

"Then why'd you invite her?" asked Kai.

"You know, that's what I keep asking myself," said Lloyd, still flailing about inside the sweater. Kai helpfully tied the sleeves off at the shoulder. After struggling a while longer, Lloyd finally pulled the sweater off again, surveyed it in bewilderment, then gave Kai an unamused look. The older ninja grinned, unrepentent.

"You're definitely set up to impress her if you can't get your sweater on straight."

"Stop trying to make me nervous," grumbled Lloyd, untying his sleeves. Kai chuckled, but quickly grew sober again.

"Hey. Seriously though, be careful out there."

"Sure thing," said Lloyd. "I remember all of Nya's bomb-defusing lessons, and the creeps probably won't be able to smuggle any other weapons in there, so it'll be pretty safe."

"No, not that—well, that too, obviously—but I meant with Chamille," said Kai.

"Huh?" Lloyd looked up, miffed. "Come _on_. You seriously think I would hurt her?"

Kai was silent for a moment.

"For real?" Lloyd folded his arms. "What do you take me for? I—"

"Aaaactually, I was more worried about you," Kai interrupted, eyeing the ceiling.

" _Me?!_ " Now Lloyd looked outright insulted.

"Well, what am I supposed to think? The first time you spent much time with her, you nearly killed each other on a Thunderblades track. Then the other time, you came home without your shirt and with a tongue piercing."

"That had nothing to do with her!" Lloyd retorted. "It was a disguise for a mission." He felt at the tip of his tongue absent-mindedly. "Kinda wish I could've kept that piercing, though."

Kai rolled his eyes.

"Look, just be careful out there, okay?" He returned Lloyd's irritated look for a moment, but at last sighed and shook his head. "I'm serious. She seems like a rough character, and none of us wants to hear that you've come home bleeding."

"Okay, _okay_." Lloyd spread his hands. "I'll go bleed somewhere else. Happy?"

"Lloyd."

"How about I promise not to do anything you wouldn't do?"

Kai closed his eyes, giving a long sigh of annoyance.

"Whatever. Just get going, you're gonna be late."

Lloyd grabbed the last few pieces of equipment on the way out. Halfway to the door he relented and looked back.

"Okay, okay, so I will be careful. Relax, will ya?"

"Get lost, kid." Kai gave him a weary smile.

* * *

When Lloyd got to the gates of the Magic Imbroglio Carnival, he was ready to meet just about anyone except a teenaged girl with fluffy purple hair. However, that was just what he got. Chamille was wearing a sparkling temporary tattoo on either cheek, but otherwise she looked like her usual self.

"No disguises?" said Lloyd.

"And risk missing out on a free ticket?" Chamille rolled her eyes, then flickered purple and transformed into a young sandy-haired girl in a pixie cut. "I'm disguising now, though, so I don't get seen with you."

"Funny, that works both ways," retorted Lloyd.

The gates were just starting to open, and Lloyd and Chamille joined the eager throng of concert-goers pushing towards the narrow entrance.

"Now remember, this is going to be pretty serious," said Lloyd. "You can pretty much enjoy the concert yourself, but keep your eyes open for suspicious activity and don't get in my way. Especially if anything gets dangerous!"

"Man. So they seriously are planting a bomb, huh?" said Chamille.

"Shhh, not so loud!" hissed Lloyd, looking around to make sure nobody had heard. "You can't tell anyone! The last thing we want is to start a lot of paranoia and panic in the crowd."

"Ohhhh." Chamille subsided. For a moment, anyway.

They soon made their way into the concert area, where warm-up music was already playing and a sizable crowd was already gathering. Lloyd checked in with the manager and started to make a preliminary patrol around the grounds, taking Chamille with him.

He exchanged waves with Zane and Sensei Wu, who were already in the audience. The Nindroid looked concert-ready, with neon-green football stripes under his eyes and a glowstick in either hand, but it was the Sensei who really gave Lloyd a turn. He had painted his entire staff in broad stripes of Day-Glo color, and had dyed the tips of his beard and moustache to match. If anything he looked even readier to party than Zane did; they were both fetching some disbelieving stares (and occasional catcalls) from the more conventional concert-goers. Sensei Wu bonked any dissenters with his staff.

"They should be pretty popular in the crowd," said Chamille, looking like she couldn't decide if she was unimpressed or amused.

Lloyd made a thorough patrol of the entire concert area, including backstage, with Chamille tagging along looking around eagerly. Going into restricted places was a new thing for her. Finding nothing suspicious, they headed backstage again to settle down.

"We have to get into position now," Lloyd called over the rumble of a trap song shaking the speakers. "We'll be able to watch the stage and some of the audience from our place."

"What place?" Chamille shouted back.

"Right here." Lloyd began to clamber up the metal scaffolding holding up some of the stage lights. "We can sit on the rafters right above the stage! Cool, huh?"

He looked back and found Chamille was hanging half-heartedly off a girder near the bottom of the scaffolding, making no particular effort to follow him.

"Come on! Someone's gonna see you down there."

"Keep your hair on," grumbled Chamille, looking first up, then down, and advancing only a few feet upwards. Lloyd waited impatiently as she slowly made her way up to join him. Once she was on the rafter next to him, Lloyd noticed how carefully she was moving, her hands never leaving the edges of the metal beam.

"Wait. You're not scared of heights, are you?" he asked.

"There are things," said Chamille through her teeth, "that I like better."

"Ohhh." Lloyd blinked. He'd forgotten that not everyone went through ninja training. "Uh . . . Are you gonna be okay?"

"Count on it, Minty. Just gimme a second to get used to it, okay?"

"Sure, sure." Lloyd fell silent for a moment. Abruptly he thought of something and laughed.

"I'll push you off this thing," growled Chamille, although it was unclear how she planned to do that without letting go.

"It's not you," said Lloyd, holding up his hands defensively. "Just the Tournament. I just realized I did you a favor, beating you when I did. The next challenge was skydiving."

"I would have _loved_ skydiving," retorted Chamille.

"Surrrrre you would've."

For a while they just sat there, listening to the warm-up music and chewing bubblegum. Chamille loosened up surprisingly fast, and was soon swinging her legs casually over the edge just like Lloyd. For hanging out with a girl, Lloyd had to admit, this wasn't half-bad. There was none of the usual worrying about keeping her happy or accidentally offending her (girls got offended so _easily_ , dangit! By the weirdest things . . . ), no awkward politeness or mushy-gushy stuff. They pretty much hated each others' guts anyway, so they could say whatever they wanted to each other.

The music, though, was starting to get on the green ninja's nerves a little. All the electronic noises sounded pretty much the same to him, and the tunes weren't particularly appealing. But as he kept reminding himself, he was here to foil bad guys, not to take in the soundscape. Besides, Chamille seemed to be digging it—she even seemed to know most of the songs. Lloyd watched her leaning back on her hands, waving her toes in tune to the music and mumbling the words occasionally.

Eventually the real concert started. There were no instruments, just a guy in a sweatsuit fiddling with sliders on a sound machine. Lots of fancy lights and effects though, and it was really cool whenever the swinging spotlights scraped across the rafters, sending a wave of blinding, searing, brightly-colored light blazing all around the two teenagers. The first time it happened, it scared them both pretty badly, and when the light passed onwards they caught each others' eye and grinned.

As to the music, though, it _still_ all sounded the same to Lloyd—by now he was really starting to feel a thirst for a juicy guitar solo and some high-hats.

"Hey," he shouted above the grind of a dubstep drop. "I'm going out to make another patrol. You can stay here if you'd rather watch."

"Nuh-uh, I'm coming," Chamille hollered back, sliding along the beam and grabbing the scaffolding. As Lloyd waited his turn to climb down, he leaned back until he could see some of the crowd in front of the stage. They were an enthusiastic bunch; he squinted, trying to pick out any of his family in the crowd, and for a second he thought he caught sight of a long white beard bouncing somewhere in the jumble. He chuckled softly, then followed Chamille down the scaffolding.

"Took you long enough!" she shouted—at least, he assumed that was what she was saying, because the music was so loud down here that he had to read her lips. The floor shivered beneath their feet with every digital roar of bass and beat, and Lloyd felt his lungs vibrating right along with it.

They made their way farther backstage, where the sound mercifully dimished a little bit. On the other end of the backstage space Lloyd spotted Cole, also heading out on a patrol. The earth ninja waved, and communicated by way of hand signals that he would take the north end of the area while Lloyd took the south. Lloyd signaled his agreement, then watched as Cole headed off. He didn't get a good look at his date, but he glimpsed a flash of pink and aqua.

"Having fun?" asked Chamille as they proceeded around the patrol track and the music sank to a dull roar.

"It's okay," shrugged Lloyd. "Not really into this type of music."

"I expected as much," said Chamille, rolling her eyes. Still, she kept pace with Lloyd, smiling slightly.

"Are _you_ having fun?" asked Lloyd awkwardly.

"You kidding? This is awesome!" Chamille swung her arms happily as she walked. "I, uh . . . thanks for taking me . . . and everything . . . "

"No problem," said Lloyd.

For a minute they were quiet, trading cautious, vaguely significant looks.

"Can we stop being nice to each other?" asked Chamille at last. "It's creepy."

Lloyd laughed, and they kept walking. They went around the far end of the patrol loop and started approaching the main concert stage again. The glitter of light and motion in the darkening evening synced beautifully with the keen and rumble of the music. It caught Lloyd's attention so much that he almost didn't notice the gap in the fencing.

Then his heart stopped. A section of the chain-link fence had been removed, and a large van was backing up to it. The side of the van said "Kopernicus Plumbing," but there was no way that a plumbing service was working _here, now_.

Heart pounding, Lloyd grabbed Chamille's arm and dragged her behind a stack of girders.

"Get out of here," he hissed in her ear. "I think that's them."

"Oh my god." Chamille's eyes flew open wide. "Where?!"

"In that van." Lloyd peeked between the girders, then gulped. "It's too late for you to run, they're already here."

Chamille pressed up next to him, peeking through the same gap. Lloyd could feel her shoulder shifting with her tense, shallow breath.

"All right, let's move," growled a throaty voice. "Alf, you scope out the area, make sure there's no idiots blundering around out here. Moe, you activate the gizmo. Alf, if the area's clear, get back here, pick the gizmo up, stuff it in, then get back here! And I mean _fast,_ you got it? I'll keep the engine running so we can peel the hell outta here once you've planted it."

Some growls of affirmation. The sound of approaching footsteps. Chamille's hand closed over Lloyd's wrist, digging in uncomfortably tight.

Then Alf came around the end of the stack of girders. Lloyd shook Chamille off gently, but lightning-fast; even as Alf opened his mouth to holler a warning, Lloyd whispered "Ninja-GO!" and threw himself at the man. He almost used Spinjitzu, but at the last split-second he realized the noise and green glow would give away their location. Instead he drove his fist into Alf's jaw, simultaneously snatching the front of his shirt so he didn't fall backwards, into the others' sight. Alf tumbled forward instead, out cold. Lloyd stood over him, wired with adrenaline. His head swam.

What to do? He had a wrist-communicator, but he couldn't speak loud enough to call anyone. Not only that, he had to act _fast;_ the other two crooks would notice Alf's absence long before any of his teammates could get here. For a moment he considered attacking the other two men himself, but Alf had a gun strapped to his belt, and the other two doubtless were armed as well. He couldn't take two guns at once.

For a second he stood there, heart pounding. Then he heard Chamille curse softly behind him, and suddenly everything fell into place.

"Chamille," he whispered, turning around. He could see realization dawning on her face as she figured out the same thing he had. He couldn't believe he was asking this of her, but all the same he swallowed and spoke. "Can you? . . . "

For a moment she looked at him, panic clear in her eyes.

"Take his place?" she whispered at last, nodding towards Alf. Lloyd nodded.

"Can you?" he whispered again, grabbing her wrists to look her in the eye. "If you're not sure you can do this, _do not_. I'll think of something else."

"There _is_ nothing else, is there?" Chamille set her jaw. "I'll do it."

Stepping over to Alf's unconscious form, she rolled him over and studied his face and clothes. Then she shimmered purple and transformed into a perfect facsimile of the unconscious man.

"He wasn't super-tall, was he?" she asked, her voice forcibly calm.

"No, about my height."

She gave a terse nod and stepped out from behind the girders. As she disappeared around the stack, Lloyd had a sudden impulse to snatch her back. What was he _doing?!_ Sending a fifteen-year-old girl with no ninja training out into a mess of gun-toting psychopaths, to pick up a _bomb_ —he was the one with the training and experience! It was his job to do stuff like this, not hers! If anything happened to her, he'd never forgive himself, never—

"Coast clear, Alf?" barked a gruff voice, causing Lloyd's heart to leap into his throat.

"Yeh, all good," Chamille growled back. Evidently she was patching together an approximation of Alf's voice, based on the brief mumbles of conversation she'd heard before. "Gimme that thing."

"Oi, nervous, are ya, Alf?" There was a malicious grin in Moe's voice. "You like totin' live dynamite around?"

"Shaddup," snapped Chamille. "We've got no time for games, this place is crawlin' with security guards. You want one of 'em snaggin' us? Huh?"

"Fine, fine, shaddup yourself," muttered Moe. "Hey, why're you talkin' so weird, Alf?"

"Uhhh—uhhh—"

"Alf? . . . "

Lloyd's nerves snapped. With a yell of "Ninjaaaa-GO!" he hurled himself out from behind the girders and span straight into the van, knocking Moe cold before he even knew what was happening. The van's driver, alerted by the noise, ran around to the back with a semi-automatic already raised—but Lloyd was already ricocheting towards him, still encased in whirling green. Bullets barked from the gun's muzzle as Lloyd's Spinjitzu tornado struck; when he stopped spinning, the driver was sprawled on the ground and there were bullet holes in the roof of the van. Lloyd whirled, and let out a gasp of relief when he saw Chamille unharmed, pressed back into a corner and clutching a bulky black device in her arms.

"Are you okay?" he panted. "Are you okay?"

"I'm holding a bomb, what do you think?" said Chamille tightly. "Just please take this thing offa me."

Lloyd was struck by a sudden dizzy impulse to hug her, but there were much more pressing matters at hand. Swiftly but carefully he lifted the device out of the Master of Form's arms, laying it gingerly on the floor. As he studied the black metal casing, his heart beat faster and faster; he didn't recognize any of this. Either Nya's lessons had all flown out of his head, or she'd never covered this type of bomb—he had no clue what to do.

He recognized one thing, though: the little countdown timer reading five minutes, thirty-four seconds—and steadily counting down.


	4. Construction Work is a Thankless Career

**Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! I get to do my Master Chen routine!**

 ***Clears throat***

 **We haaaaave a winnah!** **\\\^_^/)**

 **Congratulations to Guest and . . . Guest . . . Are you twins? Clouse, go ask if they're twins! Ask that third Guest if they're triplets!**

 **But you, Guest and Guest, correctly guessed Cole's date; it is indeed Seliel! Congratulations! You** **win my amazing button-controlled chair, complete with spectator ambiance and various trapdoor controls. It'll be shipped to your residence shortly, courtesy of Master Chen's delicious noodles!**

 **. . . What do you mean there are two residences and only one chair, Clouse? Well, don't just stand there! Cut it in half!**

 **Haha, okayokay, no more Master Chen routine. I'm starting to get a strange urge to drop someone down a trapdoor . . . Anyway, thank you to both guest reviewers who guessed Seliel! Avid comic-readers both, I take it? ;) And thank you to the third Guest too. Have you ever seen Sonic X, or at least its theme song? You got me thinking of it with that "better move fast." :)**

 **Darkrainbow: Thanks for the review! Well, depending on the power of that thing, Lloyd probably wouldn't want to throw it. Too close to a whole buncha people** **—** **and the poor sucker throwing it. XD**

 **Angel Star Ninja: Ooh, let's hope Lloyd doesn't eat those words. XD Thanks for the review!**

* * *

"Well, well? Kill it!" insisted Chamille, shifting impatiently just behind him. "What are you waiting for?!"

"I—I don't know how," stammered Lloyd. "I've never seen this type before."

"Just crack it open and yank some wires out!"

"Are you _nuts?_ You can't just rip open a bomb, that could set it off!"

"Then what do we do?! I thought you knew what you were doing here!" wailed Chamille.

"Hold on, hold on, stay _calm_ already!" Lloyd raked a hand through his hair, forcing himself to think logically. The timer hit five minutes. There wouldn't be time to call someone over here, and anyway if he didn't recognize this type of bomb probably nobody would. "Okay, Chamille, we've got to get this thing out of here. I'll take it somewhere it can blow up without hurting anybody."

"Construction site! There's a construction site not too far from here, we can stuff it in the basement!" said Chamille eagerly. "Get in the van, I can show you the way!"

"Forget the van!" Lloyd jumped out the loading doors, fished in his pocket, and set off a signal flare. He waited five seconds, and a similar flare shot up from the edge of the audience. Now assured that one of his teammates would soon be arriving to take care of the unconscious criminals, he summoned his energy motorcycle and grabbed the bomb before hopping on. "If you're coming, then hurry!"

Chamille looked dubiously at this suddenly-appearing vehicle for only a second before scrambling on behind Lloyd.

"Down that street!" she hollered, pointing over his shoulder, and Lloyd yanked the bike around that way and took off.

Traffic was heavy due to the concert; Lloyd wove dangerously through red lights and alleyway shortcuts, breaking the speed limit by double-digits but not daring to slow down even slightly. Chamille hung onto him, howling directions in his ear. Luckily she seemed to know this area pretty well, but they still got lost a time or two.

The timer read less than two minutes by the time they reached the construction site. It looked to be some kind of one-floor office building, wide and low-slung, with many of its walls still unfinished. It stood in the center of a large torn-up lot, nothing but loose rubble and a few construction vehicles for a good two hundred feet in every direction.

"Are you sure this thing has a basement?" asked Lloyd tensely.

"It does, I swear it does!" Chamille was already swinging off the motorcycle and dashing towards the skeletal building. "Come on, follow me!"

Lloyd allowed the bike to disintegrate back into green glowing particles as he tore after her. Sure enough, there was a basement over in one corner, a hole in the floor with only a bare wooden stepladder leading down into the gloom. Lloyd and Chamille hustled downstairs, carrying the bomb between them so it wouldn't bump on the steps or (heaven forbid) fall.

It was pitch-dark at the bottom of the ladder. Lloyd summoned a ball of green light in one hand, illuminating the underground space eerily.

"There! That's perfect!" He placed their menacing payload in a little alcove in the wall, probably where an air vent was going to go.

"There's insulation!" shouted Chamille from across the room. "Can we put that on to muffle it when it blows up?"

"Yeah!" Lloyd came over and grabbed a large roll of the fluffy pink fiberglass, tumbling it across the basement. Chamille grabbed several loose sheets, and for a while they dashed back and forth stuffing insulation around the bomb and piling it on top.

Eventually they ran out of insulation. Panting, Lloyd knelt down and lifted away some of the pink jumble, peering underneath.

He was greeted by glowing blue numbers flashing 19 . . . 18 . . . 17 . . .

"Come on!" yelled Lloyd, grabbing Chamille's wrist and dragging her up the basement stairs. "We need to get out of here!"

They ran for dear life, darting through half-plastered walls and bare frameworks of studs, stumbling over discarded packages and construction materials. In seconds they made it outdoors, and only managed to dash a few dozen meters over the uneven rubble before Chamille caught her foot on a rock. Lloyd jolted to a stop as her hand pulled him back, and they both went sprawling, rubble clattering and scraping beneath them.

"Stay down! Cover the back of your neck and head!" gasped Lloyd, rolling over and draping one arm over Chamille to shield her.

For a few seconds they waited, construction dust stinging their throats as they panted. Time ticked by.

Nothing happened.

Eventually Lloyd stirred slightly, peeking over to Chamille, and found that she was also sneaking a glance at him. He looked over his shoulder to the still-silent building, then slowly rolled over and sat up. Chamille snapped upright as well.

"Well? That's _it?_ " she demanded. Lloyd spread his hands, bewildered. Chamille stared first at him, then at the building, and finally made a sound of intense frustration.

"You dork! I was scared stiff!" she growled, giving Lloyd a shove. "I thought it was gonna—"

"Hey, hey, I thought so too!" Lloyd held her off, laughing sheepishly. "I didn't think it was—"

 _Then_ the building blew up. Chamille gave a scream and buried her face in Lloyd's chest, and Lloyd wrapped his arms around her reflexively as a wash of searing heat and force crashed over them.

It seemed to last forever. Finally it gave way, the last few flakes of wood and plaster peppered the two teenagers, and a wave of cool air followed in the wake of the inferno.

After a few silent seconds Chamille ventured to stir again.

"Are we alive?" she mumbled.

"Yeah." Lloyd ruffled a hand through her hair, feeling a little shaky himself. "We're okay. We're okay."

"That was awful."

"Yeah."

A bit more silence.

"Lemme go." Chamille squirmed free of Lloyd's hold, looking put-out. "This, uh . . . stays between us?"

"I definitely won't tell if you won't," said Lloyd. Chamille sighed, smoothing her hair back down where he'd scruffed it up.

"Wow. I'm reallllllly glad this is your regular job and not mine."

Lloyd studied her face for a second, wondering if this was a proverbial limb he wanted to go out on.

"Well hey. You were amazing," he said at last.

"Mehhhh." She rolled her eyes, still too wired for pleasantries.

"No, I'm serious." He pushed her shoulder lightly, trying to get her to look at him. "You stayed—well—pretty calm, considering—and you walked right in there disguised as Alf and led me to the construction site and stuck it out to the very end and everything. It's thanks to you that the bomb went off safely, with nobody hurt."

"Awh, get real." Chamille poked at a loose pebble, studying the ground intently. "C—c'mon already. Tonight was horrific enough without you being nice to me on top of everything else."

Lloyd chuckled and started to say something, but just then his communicator hummed. Gulping, he flicked it on.

"Lloyd? Report your position!" Cole sounded like he was having a mental break of fairly significant proportions. "The communicator lines are jammed with everyone asking everyone else where they are, where are you?! Did you see that explosion?!"

"I wasn't looking directly at it, but I kinda knew it was there," said Lloyd tactfully. "Chamille and I were—uh—pretty close to the site. We—"

"Are you okay?!"

"We're fine, we're fine." Lloyd fought back the urge to add "medium rare." "At least it's all taken care of, right? How are the crowds reacting, no panic?"

"They didn't even notice, the music was too loud. Or maybe they did, and they were just too tripped-out to care." Cole sounded exhausted now. "Say, do you know where anyone else is?"

"Sorry."

"Well, back to trying to force a call through," groaned Cole. "Why couldn't this thing just have a 'busy' signal so I know that someone's calling someone else and not buried under six tons of rubble or something?"

"I'm pretty sure everyone's fi—" Cole had already hung up.

"Poor Cole," sighed Lloyd, deactivating his communic

ator. He looked up and found that Chamille was now looking at him silently, her eyes wide. "What? What's wrong?"

"You're bleeding like crazy," said Chamille thinly, pointing at her head. Lloyd lifted his hand to his temple and blinked as it came away sticky and red. A piece of flying rubble must have grazed him.

"Oh no . . . Kai is going to _kill_ me."

"You're about to die of blood loss, and _that's_ what you're worried about?!"

"I'm not gonna die." Lloyd rolled his eyes good-naturedly, tugging off his mask and holding it to the abrasion. "It's just a 'bleeder,' I think. Shallow, and it'll stop soon. Heals up in no time." Privately he kinda hoped it would scar, though. He would've loved a cool battle scar like Kai and Jay had.

Police sirens were starting to wail in the distance, responding to the explosion. Lloyd glanced back in the direction they were coming from, then looked over to Chamille again. She looked tired, grubby, and still more than a little shaken; not really in any shape for a police investigation.

"Hey," he said. "How about we get out of here, clean ourselves up a little, and go back for the rest of tonight's concert?"

"What about the police?"

"I'll explain everything to them tomorrow," said Lloyd. He pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand. Chamille took it, then hesitated. For a second she blinked up at Lloyd silently—then before he even had a chance to say "uh-oh" he found himself sprawled next to her.

"You just don't learn, do you?" she deadpanned. Lloyd rolled onto his back and gave a long-suffering sigh.

"I am never offering you a hand up again," he said darkly.

Still, eventually he had to smile. Irritating as all heck she might be, but she really did have a pretty laugh.


	5. Selene

**Whoops, so sorry this one is a day late! I didn't have this chapter pre-written like the others, and the Fluff Devourer was on a rampage devouring all the fluff.**

 **Strictly speakin', the last chapter would probably have been a perfectly decent place to end . . . all this stuff in here is completely unnecessary. But there is fluff! For those who like fluffies. :)**

 **A big thank you for everyone who's been reading, reviewing, faving, etc! Thanks for being willing to give this story a try even while I'm experimenting with this crazy little pairing. Means a lot to me. ^_^**

 **Angel Star Ninja: Awww, that just made my day too! :3 And yeah, I figured that was what you meant. Autocorrect? ^_^'' Here's the update! Sorry again for the delay.**

 **Guest 1: Well thank you! Heh, I'll be the first to admit it's not a pairing that could ever happen in-canon, but dang it's fun to write.**

 **Kairocksrainbow: Congrats on the name change, then! Yep, they lived. We'll see about Kai's reaction . . . there's always a catch, y'know. :P Ooh, like Nya's ninja suit is pink and aqua! Gosh, you're right** **—** **I hadn't realized that! And believe me, I would've made this thing Conya in a heartbeat, but I thought I'd better stick to only one unorthodox pairing for now. XP**

 **Guest 2: Thanks for the review! They were probably all stressed at the moment, too, everyone not knowing where everyone else was** **—** **just that Cole was the first to get a call through. Besides, he's the leader, so he feels responsible for everyone's safety. ^_^**

* * *

Fifteen minutes later they were again perched in the rafters above the concert stage, music pounding all around them. There were still police lights flashing over by the broken section of fence, but everything was under control. Cole had finally managed to ensure that everyone was okay, and was now flopped in a canvas chair just backstage. He was a wonder, truly; about twenty feet from the nearest speaker, and he looked to be _asleep_.

Lloyd settled back and took in the panorama of motion and flashing lights below them. Maybe it was because he was relaxed now, or maybe this was a particularly good song, but one way or another the music was starting to seem kinda catchy. Or at least a bit dance-worthy. Not bad.

He glanced over to Chamille, who was leaning back nodding to the beat, looking thoroughly content. She looked over at him too, then stopped swaying and squinted thoughtfully.

"Say," she said. "You think we should be holding hands, or something?"

"Uhh . . . "

"I dunno." Chamille folded her arms dubiously. "I figure that's what they'd do now in all the movies and teen novels and stuff, but I think it might all be media hype. I'm not feelin' it."

"Yeah, me neither," said Lloyd.

A contemplative silence.

"Want to try it out, just to go by the book?" ventured Chamille.

"Guess it can't hurt." Lloyd, wondering what exactly in his morning oatmeal had induced him to be okay with this, held out a perfunctory hand. Chamille took it in an equally businesslike fashion, then they both settled back and turned their attention to the music for a while, their hands linked.

"Hm. Pretty okay, huh?" Chamille said at length.

"Yeah, not bad." Actually it felt like he'd swallowed a barrel of hot partying eels, but remarkably that wasn't what he'd call a _bad_ sensation. Maybe Cole's cooking had made him resilient.

The experiment concluded, they shook their hands apart and went on listening to the music. Two songs later they realized that at some point their hands had slipped together again. They exchanged apologetic looks, then shrugged and let the situation continue. Hey, they were at a freaking EDM concert; they could be excused for being a _little_ mainstream.

Now if the hot partying eels would just take a break already . . .

* * *

It was _late_ at night by the time the music ended. Cole was walking his date home, but the rest of the _Bounty's_ crew plus Skylor managed to find each other outside the gates and walk back together. They were all a little worse for wear: Kai had a black eye (he swore he'd just been elbowed by an overenthusiastic dancer), Nya and Jay were coated in glitter (neither of them too pleased about this), and Sensei Wu's beard was an absolute fright (about which he was remarkably calm).

Still, everyone was in a good mood, exhausted but content, trading stories about the concert.

"I can't believe some people are going to get up tomorrow and do that again. And _again_ ," groaned Skylor, stretching.

"At least we don't have to," said Jay. "Instead we're gonna be collabing with the police and trying to explain to Krolmeister Construction Company why their office building is now scrap lumber." He elbowed Lloyd playfully. "By the way, if they want us to pay for it, that's coming out of your lunch money."

"Heyyyyy, I was working on a tight schedule!" retorted Lloyd good-naturedly. "Come on, I've seen commercial breaks longer than that bomb's timer."

"We're just glad you're all right," said Misako, ruffling her son's hair.

"Yeah . . . all joking aside, that was a pretty tight job," conceded Kai. "Better an empty building than a field full of people." He socked Lloyd's shoulder lightly. "Nice going."

"Ah, it was Chamille's idea," said Lloyd, looking aside shyly.

"Sayyy, speaking of, where _is_ Chamille?" asked Nya. "You're not walking her home?"

"Nah." Lloyd shrugged. "She got tired of sitting around in the rafters and went to join the audience so she could dance."

"What? Come on! You just both went off to do your own thing, on your first date? That is not how it works!"

"I'm pretty sure most first dates don't involve live explosives either," snorted Lloyd.

"Of course not," said Jay. "They involve broken rollercoasters."

* * *

The notion that Lloyd and Chamille hadn't even maintained each others' company till the end of the evening kept the others off Lloyd's case for the most part. They arrived back at the _Bounty_ , Kai went to walk Skylor home in turn, and the others mostly stumbled off to bed, mumbling goodnights.

Lloyd went to the kitchen instead. After rummaging around for a few minutes, he went over to open the window, poked his head out, and whistled softly. A brief scrabbling, and abruptly another Lloyd tumbled into the kitchen—this one with plaster bandages over his temple.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Nobody suspects a thing." Chamille glanced over her shoulder. "Except maybe Zane. He kept looking at me funny."

"Phew. Seriously, thanks for doing this," said Lloyd, rubbing at his bandages. "I owe you. Majorly."

"You bet you do," snorted Chamille. "Remind me again why I'm bothering with this?"

"In exchange for me keeping you anonymous when I talk to the police, remember?" said Lloyd. "I don't show up at home bleeding, you don't end up on the news. I don't get in trouble with Kai, you don't get in trouble with your parents."

"Ohhh, yeah. Fair enough, I guess." Chamille grimaced. "You still owe me, though."

"Okay, okay." Lloyd paused, looking her up and down. "Uhh . . . you mind changing back now? It's kinda creepy talking to myself."

"Hey, this is what everyone else has to look at all the time, Minty."

"You know what I mean," retorted Lloyd. "And stop doing that to my face."

Chamille dropped the gruesome expression she'd been pulling and rolled her eyes, morphing back into her usual form.

"Okay, I'd better get going," she said. "Kai'll be coming back soon, and if he sees you now it'll blow the whole thing."

Lloyd glanced at the clock, then at Chamille, who was trying to figure out how to climb out the window without breaking her neck.

"Hey, he won't be here for a while."

"Neh, can't stay. I haven't eaten since lunch." Chamille pulled a strand of her hair out of the window latch, grumbling. "You know any good places that are open after midnight?"

"Not really . . . " Lloyd hesitated. "We have some leftover pizza from last night . . . "

Chamille pulled her head back in through the window and gave him a puzzled look.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you _wanted_ me to stick around a while longer."

"Yeah, well." Lloyd pulled open the fridge. "I guess it's a good thing you know better."

* * *

Soon enough they were settled down on the kitchen floor, their backs against the oven, a half-empty pizza box between them, munching on cold sausage pizza. They would've at least heated it, but they didn't dare risk waking someone with the beeping microwave buttons.

Super romantic.

"So what are you going to do about tomorrow?" asked Chamille. "They're gonna find out about your cut anyway."

"I dunno, I guess I'll leave for the police station before anyone else wakes up," said Lloyd. "And . . . I dunno, maybe it'll . . . heal by the time I get home? . . . " He trailed off glumly. Admittedly he hadn't planned that far ahead.

"Just say you crashed your bike," said Chamille, grabbing another slice of pizza. "The deal was, you weren't supposed to come home from the _concert_ bleeding, right?"

"I'm not gonna lie." Lloyd gave her a look.

"Then crash your bike for real."

Lloyd rolled his eyes.

A bit of silence. Chamille glanced at Lloyd, then looked across the kitchen again, still munching.

"Your mom kissed me goodnight, you know," she said, almost guiltily.

"Oh." Lloyd reddened, glad she wasn't looking at him. "I, uh—sorry if that was awkward or anything. I guess she was a little freaked out by the bomb scare and stuff."

"Yeah. Parents," said Chamille, smiling ruefully. "Y'know, I'm kinda glad we could avoid freaking her out even more. The others, too. Your family's pretty nice."

Lloyd raised his eyebrows and waited for the catch, but it never came.

"What, no punchline?" he said at last. "No 'How did _you_ get mixed up with them?' or anything?"

"Nahhh. You're pretty okay yourself," said Chamille grudgingly. Lloyd nearly choked on his pizza.

"Terrible on roller skates, terrible at driving, and a goodie-two-shoes like you can't even believe," continued Chamille, regarding her pizza slice sternly. "Buuuuut otherwise okay."

Lloyd gulped. Wow. That was . . . that kinda merited an answer . . . And the silence was starting to reach an awkward length . . .

He was just taking a deep breath when a distant door opened and closed. The two teenagers in the kitchen were on their feet like magic.

"Kai's here!" whispered Chamille, panicked. "We've gotta scram before he sees _either_ of us!"

"You'll never make it out the window that fast!" Lloyd hissed. He looked around frantically for a second, then hustled Chamille into the pantry and dove in after her.

The kitchen lay silent for all of two seconds. Then Lloyd exploded back out of the pantry, snatched the pizza box off the floor, and plowed back into hiding.

Silence again. Kai stepped into the kitchen, yawning and calling "Hello? Who's still up at this hour?" He looked around, then muttered something about Cole always leaving the lights on.

He began puttering around the kitchen, clattering dishes softly. In the pantry, Lloyd held his breath and glared across at Chamille, who had both hands clamped over her mouth and was shaking with silent laughter. Heaven _forbid_ Kai wanted chips to go with that sandwich he seemed to be making . . .

It seemed like forever, but Kai finally finished his sandwich and left, switching the lights off. Luckily Chamille had the good sense to stay quiet until they were sure he was down the hall. More or less.

"Remind me not to take you on any stealth missions," said Lloyd exasperatedly as the Master of Form leaned back against a shelf of cereal boxes, sputtering.

"Boy, that could have ended in a heart attack!" she groaned amusedly as they crept out into the darkened kitchen. "Do you ninja always have such amazing evasive maneuvers?"

"Cut me some slack, geez," said Lloyd. "It's—" he checked the glowing clock on the oven "—past one AM."

Chamille groaned again.

"That late? I've gotta get out of here."

"I'll walk you home," offered Lloyd.

"Nahhh, I'll be fine," she scoffed.

"I'm not gonna let you wander around alone in the middle of the night—"

"Seriously, really." The room lit up with a purple glow as Chamille morphed into a tough-looking thug. "Would you mess with this?"

Lloyd sighed, but smiled resignedly.

"Okay. Be careful, all right?" He put away the last of the pizza and helped her out the window, dropping her the half-story to the ground. Turning back, he looked around the darkened kitchen. What was he forgetting? . . .

 _Oh._

"Hey, wait!" he whisper-shouted, leaning out the window so far his toes nearly left the floor.

"Yeah?"

"You're pretty okay too."


End file.
